The Legality of the Possible Imposition of Compulsory Vaccine to Curb the Covid-19 Pandemic in Cameroon

ABSTRACT

Pandemics have occurred throughout history, with recurrence rates averaging every 30 to 50 years. In the present day, the global population as a whole is healthier, with access to better medicine than in the past and entities such as the World Health Organisation playing a critical role in coordinating and communicating over borders on a global scale to manage dangerous
outbreaks. The general research objective is to analyse the legal grounds for the imposition of compulsory vaccine to curb the Covid-19 Pandemic in Cameroon. The imposition of compulsory vaccine in Cameroon is problematic because it is a violation of human rights. Even though compulsory vaccine has not been imposed in Cameroon, workers in sectors like health were obliged to take the vaccine. Such workers also have the right to life and liberty which must be protected. The research methodology used is qualitative which involves in-depth exploration of facts. The method used is content analyses of primary and secondary data. The research finds that finds that compulsory vaccine imposition imposed to curb the covid-19 pandemic in Cameroon has human rights ramifications. The study recommends that for compulsory vaccine to be effectively implemented in Cameroon, there is need for a compensation legislation for injured persons of covid-19 vaccines. This will help to clear doubt of the effectiveness of such a vaccine.

CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

The shift from hunter-gatherers to agrarian societies has favored the spread of infectious diseases in the human population[1]. Expanded trades between communities have increased interactions between humans and animals and facilitated the transmission of zoonotic pathogens. Thereafter, expanded cities, extended trade territories, increased travels as well as effects on ecosystems due to increased human population raised the emergence and spread of infectious diseases leading to higher risks for outbreaks, epidemics and even pandemics.[2]

The terms endemic, outbreak, epidemic and pandemic relate to the occurrence of a health condition compared to its predicted rate as well as to its spread in geographic areas[3]. An endemic condition occurs at a predictable rate among a population. An outbreak corresponds to an unpredicted increase in the number of people presenting a health condition or in the occurrence of cases in a new area. An epidemic is an outbreak that spreads to larger geographic areas.[4]

Pandemics have occurred throughout history, with recurrence rates averaging every 30 to 50 years.[5] In the present day, the global population as a whole is healthier, with access to better medicine than in the past and entities such as the World Health Organisation playing a critical role in coordinating and communicating over borders on a global scale to manage dangerous
outbreaks.[6]

However, various societal factors still point to the risk of a pandemic having the propensity to be worse than previously experienced. For example, the increase in, and urbanization of, the global population, the low cost and speed of international travel for both goods and people, international migration and the threat of resistance to antibiotics all play their part. In advanced economies, the small but noticeable increase in the number of people declining available vaccinations could also increase the impact of manageable diseases.[7]

In the mid-19^th century, the British government made vaccination against small pox compulsory. [8] Local Anti-Vaccination Leagues were formed in response, brandishing the same hesitancy and uneven understanding of science that recur among anti-vaccination activists today.[9]In many ways, not much is new. Yet, some things about vaccine mandates do seem to have changed in recent decades. When a successful polio vaccine candidate was announced in 1953, it made its developer a minor celebrity; parents quickly sought it out for their children without needing coercion. Seven years later, Time Magazine’s “Man of the Year” was awarded to “US Scientists.”[10]But then science became intertwined with the Cold War and government secrecy. Laboratories were bombed, a superfluous and flawed swine flu vaccination effort left dozens of people with a rare neurological disorder, and Soviet disinformation about the origins of AIDS – an epidemic that’s still claiming hundreds of thousands of lives every year – spread around the world. Seeds of doubt were sown everywhere.[11]

The state of emergency is a situation of public emergency, which can be defined as a temporary system of rules to deal with an extremely dangerous or difficult situation. It involves a derogation of usual human rights standards and a change in the distribution of constitutional powers.[12]The concept of “state of emergency” or ‘emergency rule’ originated in Rome, where external attacks and internal revolt were repulsed by a dictator who was a temporary officer appointed to provide ad hoc leadership in a national emergency (tumultus).[13]

States of emergency have been used over the years by governments throughout the world as a means of suppressing real and perceived crises ranging from external threats and insurrection to internal squabbles like political, civil unrest, labour strikes, natural disasters, the spread of infectious diseases and criminal or terrorist violence[14]. It is therefore glaring that emergency rule is not only declared amidst civil unrest or violence such as armed conflict but also when there is a natural disaster.[15] In this light, its purpose is to ease the tension as a result of very severe flooding that sub-merged many houses and killed several lives. The power to declare emergency measures in developed countries are highly regulated by the constitution or a specific legal instrument.[16]

Cameroon is one of the affected states of covid-19 in Africa. The first case was declared on the 6th march 2020 and of course, many measures have been taken by Cameroonian government on 17th march 2020 and edited twice on 24th March 2020 and 30th April 2020 with the aim of reducing the transmission of this virus.[17]Compared to other countries, a complete lockdown has not been observed, because the pandemic found a weak economy, suffering from the crisis in the North regions with Boko haram and South-West and North-west regions with separatists’ group. The country could not afford a complete break of his economic activities. Even with those light restrictions Cameroon is still facing an economic slowdown added to that consumer’s fear.[18]

1.2   STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Pandemics can be devastating. The outbreak of the Coronavirus Pandemic (hereafter referred to as Covid-19) has had devastating consequences on the economy globally and the Cameroonian economy in particular. Majors adopted in this jurisdiction to curb the spread of the disease include inter alia the imposition of compulsory vaccine particularly on workers involved in the health sector. This in itself amounts to a violation of human rights as the defined under the Universal Declaration of human Rights 1948, as well as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. This raises the question as the legality of the imposition of such a vaccine.

1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1.3.1   General Research Question

• What are the legal grounds for the imposition of emergency laws and compulsory vaccine to curb the Covid-19 Pandemic in Cameroon?

1.3.2   Specific Research Question

• What is the nature of pandemics in general and Covid-19 in particular?
• What measures have been adopted to curb the disease in Cameroon?
• What are the human rights implications of compulsory Covid-19 Vaccine in Cameroon?
• What policy recommendations can be made to redress the problems raised?